Almanac Local Footy – Modewarre v Queenscliff: Missed opportunities

Both the Modewarre Warriors’ and Queenscliff Cootamundras’ seasons were on the line as they took to the park at Mount Moriac Reserve, which was hyped up to be the match of the round.

With the Warriors sitting fourth on the ladder, only clear of the Cootas by percentage, players and fans knew, this was going to be a close one.

The Cootas won the toss choosing to kick with the strong wind, which didn’t turn out to be any help. Luke Forbes, back from a long stint on the sideline, was prominent up forward for the Warriors. After receiving a heavy knock early in the quarter, he managed to bounce back, kicking 3 goals putting the Warriors up by 5 points at the first change.

The intensity lifted in the second quarter with Queenscliff managing to take the lead early on thanks to the big man Degois down full forward. The Warriors fought back strongly and started to use the wind to their advantage, dominating play for the next 20 minutes as the Cootas struggled to get it past their half. But because of missed opportunities and inaccurate goal kicking, the Warriors couldn’t do the damage on the scoreboard. Heading into the main break with a 10-point lead. Which wouldn’t last long.

Knowing that their finals may rely on the next 30 minutes of play, the Queenscliff boys came out of the rooms on a mission. Piling on 5 goals to 1 in the third quarter, thanks to the outstanding work in the midfield of Gibbs, Warren and Grimwood. Again the warriors couldn’t put the pressure on the scoreboard, kicking 5 behinds which should’ve been goals. The Cootas took a 12-point lead into the last.

Kicking against the wind, the feeling was Modewarre were going to come, and the question was, could Queenscliff handle it when they did. The Cootas again were too good early in the quarter, kicking the first 2 goals, one of which gave Degois his sixth for the match. From then on in the Warriors knew it was going to be tough. A deliberate out of bounds call going the way of the Warriors helped get the ball rolling with Hansen kicking one. Moments later, the clock was wound back as Nathan Ablett took a strong pack mark and went back to kick his first. The Warriors kicked the next one to put them within 4 points, before Gibbs stood up to ruin their day. He slotted his first and put the margin back out to 10 points, breaking the hearts of the home crowd.

A late surge and quick goal to Fisher for the Warriors gave them some hope, but with only 20 seconds left on the clock the Warriors fell agonisingly short to hand them their second loss to the Cootas for the year.

This now puts the Coota’s into 4th position and a game clear of the Warriors who sit equal 5th. The next few weeks are important for both sides as the try to cement their spot in the top 5.

Facebook and Twitter

Want to know when new stories are posted?

Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. Note: this is not our eNewsletter sign up. Use the form on the other side to subscribe to our email eNewsletter as well!